2:38pm: A team source tells Amico Hoops that there’s no truth to the idea that members of the Cavs are telling Butler it’s in his best interest not to come to Cleveland.
11:28am: Several Cavaliers players have advised Bulls star Jimmy Butler to resist any trade to Cleveland, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Unidentified players, who had been encouraging Butler to seek a deal to the Cavs, are now telling him to stay away from the sudden chaos in the organization after the decision not to re-sign GM David Griffin.
Butler had planned to ask Bulls GM Gar Forman and VP of basketball operations John Paxson to find a way to get him to Cleveland, Cowley reports. However, he apparently changed his mind Tuesday afternoon after being contacted by a few Cavaliers.
There are no other teams that Butler wants to join, including the Celtics, according to Cowley, and Chicago’s front office has set an asking price so high that it makes a deal virtually impossible.
Dwyane Wade‘s decision on Tuesday to opt in next season for $23.8MM is also related to the situation in Cleveland, Cowley states. Because Wade is a close friend of LeBron James, he understands how angry James is about Griffin’s departure and knew that Butler is likely to remain a Bull.
Cowley also reports a likely breakup of “The Three Alphas” in Chicago, with Butler and Wade pushing for an alternative to Rajon Rondo. While they like Rondo personally, both stars would prefer a point guard who can shoot from the outside to help space the court.
That’s so fake
Like he gets a choice??!!
First off, he wouldn’t have a choice since he lacks an NTC and is under contract. So this ‘warning’ isn’t really a story about Butler so much as it’s a story about what’s going on in Cleveland.
But let’s have some fun here. In a world where Butler could demand the Bulls ship him only to Cleveland, this bit of news would be giving the impression that Butler is afraid to go to an organization that has a chaotic front office situation – but is instead more keen on staying with his current team, an organization with a chaotic front office situation.
It suggests that Butler, who has two years left on his deal, doesn’t want to go to Cleveland because they might not be title contenders in his final year if James decides to leave – but instead, he’d rather stay with his current team, which is guaranteed not to be a title contender for the remainder of his deal.
Irving would only leave if LBJ heads elsewhere in 2018
*When* LBJ heads elsewhere in 2018.
No, it’s IF
Magic, Jimmy needs a home!
The Sun Times has reported like 30 different stories about this the past few days, so I’m taking anything they report with a grain of salt.
I wonder why current Cavs teammates would say anything negative about the organization? Dan Gilbert has given in to anything and everything that has been brought to the table to make the team better. He over-payed Thompson and Smith to appease LBJ and has done nothing but invest in downtown Cleveland to make it better. I’m not sure what happened between Gilbert and Griffin but he IS the owner and if he felt Griffin wasn’t the guy then so be it. The idea that it ruffled some players is silly.
Unless there’s some horrible inner secret (which in today’s media would’t have been a secret for long) I’m disappointed in the current players if that’s what they’re saying. Talk about a lack of loyalty.
On yeah. Dan Gilbert is a great guy. The players should bow at his knees and worship the mortgage God. Don’t be fooled. The Cavs organization is a joke and would be a perpetual lotto team if LeBron didn’t decide to return. Cavs fans should appreciate the year or two they have left with LBJ before they fall back into irrelevancy with the other bottom feeder teams with garbage ownership
Wow…you don’t have to be that way fam. I never said he was a “great guy”. However, he has been a great owner in that he was more than willing to spend way more than any other team has spent on payroll before to put a championship team on the floor. Unless he’s saying something derogatory to them behind closed doors then what more should an owner do other than pay you at or above market value, keep them team together and continue to add payroll to an already over the cap team salary and provide a great working environment including state-of-the-art training facilities? Other than the “letter” you tell me one thing he did that was out of line? And before you say it, not seeking approval from a player before making a front office decision is not something most owners do.
He said a lot of derogatory stuff in a public letter after Lebron left lol he doesn’t have to say anything behind closed doors everybody knows what he’s about. Money or no money like nobody wants to play for the Knicks because they’re a terrible organization they can offer anything and people will still say no.
Gilbert was wrong for the letter but the person most aggrieved by the words forgave and moved on. Since, there’s been no shortage of people willing to play there. Of course, LBJ had something to do with it. But that was personal. He has NEVER been accused of mistreating a player while under his employ. Get over it. It’s not like he’s Donald Sterling.
Literally no one would want to play in Cleveland if it weren’t for LeBron. And if you think LeBron is over the letter then you must have missed him on Uninterrupted just a week ago
Exactly thank you! And this is why reports are coming out that Lebron is unhappy, that players are telling Jimmy Butler to stay out of Cleveland. Really hard to confirm stuff that everyone involved will deny but you can imagine it’s true because of the way ownership handled it. Dan Gilbert does not know how to treat human beings he would’ve paid Griffin if he did. He’s a bad person who guaranteed the Cavs would win a ship before Lebron. Lebron won 2, came back and won one for Cleveland, and still hates the guy. Gilbert sucks hands down
There really should be a rule about tampering when it comes to players. They are really trying to control what teams do. Go where you want to when you’re a free agent. But stfu otherwise. If it’s true about Irving, that extension was signed way before there was talk of LBJ coming back to Cleveland.
And I usually air on the side of players but this is becoming too much.
You can thank LeButthurt for the collusion among the players. These players get the best contracts in the history of American sports; fully guaranteed (and exorbitant) contracts, taking 25% of the season off to rest, making demands on ownership about how to spend their money, etc. The lack of character and leadership in the current crop of players has made this the worst era in the history of the NBA.
You mean thank the NBA players association and collective bargaining agreement where the players actually have a decent deal against the owners in terms of splitting revenues and have money they earn in contracts instead of teams being able to cut them whenever due to un-guaranteed money. Best era in the NBA i’ve ever seen. People have been complaining forever, let them (i see you have no problem complaining yourself)
It’s also very important to note that the guy that wrote about this for the Chicago Sun Times or whatever their newspaper is, is literally a human joke of a reporter. The guy guy banned a season for voting for MLB awards for not including Blue Jays players on his ballot after saying Toronto is a city in a third world country. And more importantly…THE GUY COVERS BASEBALL NOT BASKETBALL.
Yeah I’m not sold on that. I’m also not sold on this being a chaotic organization. I never heard that mentioned at any other time up to Griffin not being retained. And really, it’s clear that he already had a replacement in mind in terms of Billups. To me, chaotic is when there’s a LACK of vision. We can argue whether or not Griffin should’ve been kept but that’s saying without knowing hat the issues were in which Gilbert disagreeed. Maybe he wanted a GM that appeared to me less of “LBJs guy” in the sense that maybe he wanted someone that might say no on occasion if it was more in the teams long-term health. For example, JR Smith. I love Smith and his whole redemption story but if LBJ decides to leave do you really think he cares if the team is stuck with Smith or Tristan for 2 more years? However, both players are signed to his sports agency ran by Rich Paul. That’s not to knock LBJ and what he’s done but can anyone argue that it didn’t make sense for the Cavs to bid against themselves on Smith an overpay by probably $5 mil per year?
I can’t see why LBJ wouldn’t have just as good a relationship with Chauncey Billups as he did Griffin either. I think there was severe issues between Gilbert and Griff this whole season.
The only thing I can imagine is that maybe Gilbert felt he capitulated to the whims of LBJ rather than what was in the better long-term health of the team. I know that Gilbert coveted Kevin Love before LBJ announced he was coming to Cleveland but it’s doubtful Love was going to come without LBJ being there. The distinction between what he may have done enthusisctically vs only because of what LBJ demanded was probably the amount given to Tristan, Shump and Smith. Keep in mind that they offered Smith $10 mil vs Smith’s request for $15 mil. They ended up giving him about $14.5 BUT paid about an additional $20 mil in luxury taxes. To me, Gilbert paid up to give LBJ what he wanted and to keep the team together. I have zero complaints towards Gilbert. If LBJ leaves he’s stuck with some bad contracts.
I agree. Love was a trade target the season prior to when he was traded and had his agent tell the Cavs not to trade TT, Varejao and the number one pick which was Anthony Bennett because he didn’t want to play there.
Yea Cowley is a douche, but he actually does cover the NBA these days – as the Bulls beat reporter for the Sun Times. So he’s not ‘a baseball writer’ any longer. That said – I buy the dissension in Cleveland mainly because what Gilbert did was an absolute disgrace. He refused to allow Griffin to interview for other jobs. Wouldn’t offer him a contract extension. And then he fired him days before the draft. That’s terrible form on the part of Gilbert, and if James was on Griffin’s side (and he wasn’t consulted), then this would cause chaos in the organization. Everything that happens in Cleveland happens with an eye toward making sure that James stays past this season. This appears to be a shot fired against retaining James.
Despite that – I don’t buy that Butler would be talked out of going to Cleveland. He already plays for one of the top-3 most dysfunctional teams in the league. And what does he care if James leaves after next year? The Cavs with Irving and Butler would still be better than the garbage the Bulls are trotting out the next two years. And if they aren’t, he can leave after one Lebron-less season.
From what Brian Windhorst reported, Griff wanted to be President and wanted more power with trades. Gilbert wanted in on trades and called owners and blah blah blah. That’s typical for an owner that has controlling interest in every sport. Nothing against Griff but I don’t think Gilbert is this maniac the media is pointing him out to be.
So He wanted a promotion, and Gilbert said no. That’s fine. But that’s not the end of the story. It’s been known for a while that Griffin wouldn’t be retained. Gilbert refused to give permission for him to talk to other teams about job openings. That’s where Gilbert exhibited bad form.
Why? They were in the middle of the middle of the playoffs. He also met with the Magic against Gilbert’s decision and they told Griff they didn’t want him. He was an alright GM but it’s not like he crafted this team the way other GM’s do.
He actually was a very good GM with an owner who understood he had to OK the funds if they wanted to build a championship, so with very little cap space and first round picks he got rid of Mozgov, Varejao contracts, picked up Korver, Frye, Shump, JR, got Kevin Love etc. All with trade exceptions and cap maneuvering. Give the man some credit, he put together a championship team and wanted a promotion. Tom Thibodeau hasn’t won anything and is coach/president of basketball ops. So is Stan Van Gundy and Doc Rivers. Griffin is a way better GM than all those guys.
Just remembered he drafted Bennett #1 though so i’ll sit down now
The Cavs need George not butler. George is the better matchup against GSt.
I’d rather take the guy that knowingly wants to play with Uncle Drew, has two years left on contract and has been a 3 time all NBA defensive second team member.
George is a scorer. Period. Butler excels in all aspects of the game, which makes him a top-5 player. George has already said he wants to play for LA, so any discussion about trading for him is moot unless you’re Magic Johnson.
A scorer, period? Butler is a great two-way player. And he’s probably a little better defensively, but George has been on the all defensive team multiple times. He’s also a significantly better shooter and plays much better off the ball. Jimmy’ offensive game is pure iso.
Well of course that’s what “a team source” would say. That means not a player. And I would only talk to players about this.
For those that don’t know, Joe Crowley is always at the center of these scandal-like reports.
So, either he has unimaginably good sources, or he’s just doing this for views and
clicks. You be the judge.
**Cowley
I couldn’t agree more. This guy has more blemishes on his resume than good, solid contributions. And not be biased but I trust Sam Amico and his relationship with the Cavs than I do Cowley with the Bulls.
It was probably Kevin Love that called and told him not to come to Cleveland.
Your right. prolly was.
He just doent wanna go to chitown
Griffin isn’t worth crap!! The dude traded 2 first rounders for mosgov! Not to mention countless crappy free agent signings, shawn Marion, mike Miller, boget, both Williams and more too. The list goes on and on
Man players ring chase. They thought Marion could help, Miller is Lebron’s buddy, Bogut broke his leg idk how you avoid that, and Deron Williams got cut from the Mavs so he went to the best contender that needed a backup PG. You’re getting mad at a guy for his decision on the #9 or #10 guys in a rotation.
You know they signed Larry Sanders and Edy Tavares this season as well? They were going through every option possible as a team and at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for from a GM and it’s Dan Gilbert’s money so who cares lol
Who is Sam Amico? I have a hard time trusting anything from the Cleveland Media
Who wrote this fake story?
Im sure Broussard is involved in this somehow.. Garbage!
He consulted a magic eight ball.